An Action Planfor CommunityEmpowerment:Building on success

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October 2007

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Contents Foreword by the Secretary of State 2

Foreword by Sir Simon Milton, Chair of the LGA 4

Executive Summary 5

Summary of actions 8

1. Introduction 11

1.1 What is empowerment? 11

1.2 What have we learnt? 12

1.3 Why does empowerment matter? 13

1.4 Our overall framework 17

1.4.1 Strengthening local leadership 17

1.4.2 Empowering children and young people 21

1.4.3 Promoting empowerment in particularprogrammes 23

1.5 What needs to change? 25

1.6 Action Plan 26

2. Widening and deepening empowerment opportunities locally 28

2.1 What is the issue? 29

3. Supporting and enabling people to take up empowerment opportunities 37

3.1 What is the issue? 38

4. Strengthening local representative democracy 44

4.1 What is the issue? 44

Endorsements 47

Contact us

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ForewordRt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State forCommunities and Local Government

‘There isn’t a single service or development in Britain whichhasn't been improved by actively involving local people’

This is an exciting time for everyone who wants to be part ofcreating flourishing, confident communities. The Prime Ministerhas called for ‘a reinvention of the way we govern’. The GreenPaper – The Governance of Britain – marks a new relationshipbetween Government and citizens. This means making publicinvolvement the rule, not the exception.

Far from being apathetic about social change, people will leap atthe chance to get involved when given the right opportunity.I know this from people I meet as I travel around the country andI hear, everyday, of the growing enthusiasm and commitment ofpeople in local government, other public bodies and incommunities themselves to work together to get the best resultsfor local people.

Bringing Government closer to people, passing power fromWhitehall to the town hall and direct to local communities, isn’tjust the right thing to do. It’s the best way to revitalise the localroots of our democracy and help build respect. It is the surestway of making local services reflect people’s needs.

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It is the only way we can get to grips with some of the biggestchallenges we face – from climate change to childhood obesity –where people making little changes in their everyday life is a vitalpart of the solution.

All my life I’ve been a firm believer in local activism. My wholepolitical approach, fashioned on the streets and estates ofSalford, is anchored in localism and devolution. I’ve seen howgenuine empowerment can bring positive change and build theresilience necessary to prevent problems such as anti-socialbehaviour, which left unchallenged will blight communities.I believe that the best experts, advocates and leaders for localcommunities are people within local communities themselves.It’s they who know most about community problems, and theywho are best able to provide common sense solutions.

The Governance of Britain sets out the broad framework ofconstitutional renewal. Much is happening already to pass morepower to local people. Strong and Prosperous Communities –The Local Government White Paper has made clear thatunprecedented freedom for local authorities must go hand inhand with strong links to local communities. In many places localgovernment is already rising to the challenge.

We are paving the way for the new statutory ‘duty to involve’local people that comes into force in 2009. The success of‘community kitties’ in places like Newcastle and Bradford hasinspired us in government to help spread the lessons about thebenefits of involving local people in budget decisions.

We should celebrate the success so far. Empoweringcommunities has come a long way since 1997. But it’s time tostep up a gear; to go further and faster and to be moreambitious about what we achieve. The kind of change weenvisage means change at a very local level; devolution right tothe doorstep.

I see it as my job to make that change happen, working closelywith colleagues across government, with people in communities,with local authorities, with the third sector and with a wholerange of other partners. The work starts here. Realising thecommitments set out in this action plan will, very quickly, havean effect that is felt throughout local government, in all kinds ofpublic bodies and – most importantly of all – right in the heart ofour communities and in the lives of local people.

This action plan is about achieving a step change now, inpartnership with the LGA. It is about continuing on a journeytogether, building on the good work that is already happeninglocally. In summer 2008 I want to demonstrate how muchprogress we have made by reviewing this action plan and settingout a clear cross-government approach.

Local democracy in our country will be transformed and, with it,the lives and opportunities of millions of citizens.

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Other councils can learn from the best. And central governmenthas, in our view, much to learn from councils; we are verysupportive of the Secretary of State’s wish to lead improvementsin central government’s empowerment practices. We would liketo see a real discussion about how we can improve localaccountability and leadership for a range of public services,including the police and the NHS.

Naturally, this document focuses on what the Secretary of Stateand her department have done and plan to do to develop thecommunity empowerment agenda. While we acknowledge therole that central initiatives can have, we believe that the core taskhere is to build on the basic insight that empoweringcommunities is right at the mainstream of what councils do. Thetask is less to invent new formulae for how to do it, than tohelp, encourage and challenge all councils to do what the bestdo. Our undertaking is to keep this agenda in its rightful place inthe ongoing story of local government improvement.

ForewordSir Simon Milton, Chair of the Local GovernmentAssociation

Community empowerment is local government’s core business.Councils are elected to put local people first. The only way theycan do that is by constantly seeking to enrich their mandate witha lively ongoing exchange with residents about how to improvelocal quality of life. Maintaining that conversation meanscontinuously improving the opportunities available to citizens toget involved in debate.

Community empowerment and participative democracy are anessential complement to direct representative democracy, not analternative. Democracy works best when it is a conversation; andone of the core elements of that conversation is building thecommunity’s input into the often controversial balancing actbetween competing community voices that it is electedmembers’ job to make.

The LGA is pleased to support this action plan from the Secretaryof State for Communities and Local Government. We believelocal government has an enormous amount to offer in hermission to lead this agenda in government. The case studies inthis paper show that local councils are at the heart of excellentcommunity empowerment practice. They also give a sense ofhow widespread that practice is – with, for example, nearly athird of councils we have surveyed already exemplifying the kindof good practice on handling petitions that the Secretary of Statehas said she wants to generalise.

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1 Together We Can Annual Review 2005/6, HM Government June 2006.2 Learning to Change Neighbourhoods: Lessons from the Guide Neighbourhoods Programme, Communities and Local Government 2007.

Executive Summary

This is a joint action plan for Communitiesand Local Government and the LGA totake forward a shared communityempowerment agenda.

It forms an important strand of theGovernment’s overall strategy forconstitutional renewal, as set out in theGovernance of Britain Green Paper. Thecross-government strategy has a numberof objectives. It aims to give citizens themeans of participating in decision-makingat every level; to clarify the role ofGovernment, both at central and locallevel; to rebalance power betweenParliament and government and giveBritish people a stronger sense of what itmeans to be British. The workCommunities and Local Government istaking forward to develop a culture ofpublic participation and empower peopleto play an active role is a key componentof this work.

We have significant experience to buildon. In 2005 Together We Can broughttogether for the first time a wide range ofprogrammes and initiatives from acrossGovernment. Many of these arecontinuing, and good progress wasshown after the first year1. Learning fromThe Active Learning for Active Citizenshipprogramme is now available in the TakePart learning framework (seewww.takepart.org.) and is, for instance,informing more targeted work withwomen who are under represented indecision-making structures. The GuideNeighbourhoods programme hasconfirmed how local residents can giveinspiration and support to others as partof a menu of learning opportunities,ranging from ‘seeing is believing’ visits tolong-term development support2.

This Action Plan highlights areas wherewe intend to work closely with colleaguesfrom across Government and where therewill be more opportunities for

consultation and dialogue. We want thisto be a building block for an agreedapproach across Government oncommunity empowerment, and we willreview our progress in summer 2008. Itdemonstrates a commitment to beingmore ambitious, and will gathermomentum over time, bringing in othergovernment departments and theirpartners. We have also set up an online forum atCommunityEmpowerment@communities.gsi.gov.uk where we are seeking yourviews an deepening and broadeningcommunity empowerment activity.

The Action Plan sets out our worktowards three key outcomes:

• Greater participation, collectiveaction and engagement indemocracy

• Changes in attitudes towardscommunity empowerment

• Improved performance of publicservices and quality of life.

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It sets out activities in three key areas:

1. Widening and deepeningempowerment opportunitieslocally

The more opportunities people have tomake a difference, the better they feelabout the services they have helped toshape – and the better they feel about theinstitutions providing them. We will workclosely with local authorities to developproposals set out in the local governmentwhite paper and enable them to create amenu of opportunities locally – to informpeople about ways they could getinvolved, building on the good practicethat already exists in many areas.

The environment will change significantlyfollowing the new duty to provideinformation, consult and involve localpeople contained in the Local Governmentand Public Involvement in Health Bill.This will help to empower citizens andlocal agencies to take this agenda to thenext level.

Key Communities and Local Governmentprogrammes such as housing, planningand community cohesion will havecommunity empowerment approachesembedded.

We want more people in more areas tobe able to access opportunities such as:participatory budgeting; greater sharedcommissioning; petitions; and charters.We also want to encourage use of newforms of information and communication.

2. Supporting and enabling peopleto take up empowermentopportunities

For those who, at the moment, designand deliver local services, there will bea change in the way they work; movingaway from ‘top down’ working, to waysof working that take the needs andwishes of communities into account andthat try to meet those needs with servicesthat are tailored to local circumstances.We will work closely with local authoritiesto develop proposals set out in the localgovernment white paper and to enablethem to create a menu of opportunitieslocally.

National level activity will help toevaluate, spread best practice andpromote empowerment. This will includesupport for the National EmpowermentPartnership, a network of empoweringlocal authorities; and a nationalcampaign.

Locally, we want to make it easier forthe individual who wants to participate.To facilitate this there will be: simplersignposting for people who want toget more involved; better access toperformance information; the transferof assets such as land or buildings; andmore support for community anchororganisations which meet diversecommunity needs.

3. Strengthening localrepresentative democracy

We want to translate a willingness toparticipate informally or formally intoenthusiasm for local decisions and bringnew life to our local democracy. Criticalto this will be a new ‘concordat’ to guidethe relations between central and localgovernment; the Councillors Commission;discussing with other governmentdepartments greater local accountabilityof public services and clearer localleadership.

These actions represent a challenge.Communities and Local Government andthe LGA will take these forward as part ofthe broader improvement programme forlocal government.

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We would welcome your views on theactions set out in this plan. We have setup an online forum at:http://haveyoursay.communities.gov.uk/forums and the feedback we receive willshape our ongoing cross-governmentprogramme.

Please contact us by 19 January 2008with your comments and responses to thequestions on page 49.

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Action Detail

1 Secure more citizen-focusedservices

• Publish statutory guidance to accompany the Local Government and Public Involvement inHealth Bill in draft for public consultation in winter 2007 with final guidance in Spring 2008.

2 Implement the new SustainableCommunities Act

• In autumn 2007 Communities and Local Government and LGA to consult on shaping theregulations and guidance for implementation of the new Sustainable Communities Act.

3 Give tenants a greater role inhousing management

• Simplify the process for establishing tenant management organisations and consider options forArms Length Management Organisations.

4 Give citizens a greater role inplanning

• Build an e-consultation hub: 2007 link every local authority and 2008 open the hub to thegeneral public. Publish national policy statements for infrastructure sectors that require schemepromoters to consult local communities before submitting an application.

• Increase grant funding to Planning Aid to £1.5 million per year.

5 Embed community empowermentin cohesion activities

• Publish guidance on Citizens’ Day soon.

• Continue with actions arising from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion report.

6 Develop more community kitties • Announcement of more Participatory Budgeting Schemes in November 2007.

• Early in 2008 consult on a strategy with the aim of it being offered everywhere by 2012.

• Continue to work with the parish and town council sector.

7 Establish citizens’ juries to helpshape policy

• Winter 2007 – Public consultations on number of significant policy areas: housing growth,English language and migration.

8 Consult on petitions • Publish a Communities and Local Government consultation document in Autumn 2007.

9 Develop more local charters:voluntary agreements betweenlocal authorities and communities

• Publish guidance and a toolkit in autumn 2007 and a trial programme to run to March 2008.

Summary of Actions

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Action Detail

10 Continue to develop onlinetools to support empowermentand democracy

• We will continue to develop www.peopleandparticipation.net with Ministry of Justice and theSustainable Development Commission.

• We will work across Government to encourage use of new forms of information and communication.

11 Support the NationalEmpowerment Partnership

• Ongoing – Develop more and better quality empowerment activities across the country.

12 Facilitate a national network ofempowering authorities

• Announcement and launch in October 2007.

• Publicise examples of best practice and work with IDeA on learning programmes for localauthorities from early 2008.

13 Develop a ‘Take Part’ campaign • Consult with partners on the development of a national campaign to demonstrate theopportunities people have to make a difference at the local level.

• Produce a menu of the different opportunities and series of ‘how to’ guides for people to getinvolved formally in their local community.

14 Mainstream empowerment asan improvement priority

• Publication in the autumn of a National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy which will beimplemented in March 2008.

• Communities and Local Government, IDeA and LGA will continue to support councils.

15 Open up direct dialogue withlocal activists

• Autumn 2007 and throughout 2008 – organise a series of roundtable discussions and regionalevents between the Secretary of State and community activists.

16 Transfer more assets tocommunities

• The Development Trusts Association is supporting partnerships in 20 areas to demonstrate whatworks in asset transfer and the creation of sustainable community enterprises which strengthencommunities and create local jobs.

• In winter 2007/08 there will be asset transfer workshops for local authorities and communityorganisations. Spring 2008 – publication of guidance on local authority asset management andrisk management toolkit.

• April 2008 – further demonstration areas to be supported.

Summary of Actions (continued)

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Action Detail

17 Provide timely informationabout performance

• Commission research into what practices are effective in helping citizens gain ‘real-time’information about local services.

18 Invest in local community anchororganisations as resources tosupport local community activity

• Over the next three years, we will invest, with the Office of the Third Sector, in the long-termsustainability of the third sector through supporting community anchors to develop their role instimulating opportunities, attracting resources and supporting community sector organisationsat a neighbourhood level.

19 Support Community Land Trusts • Monitor pilots and publish evaluation.

20 Measure empowerment andmake it visible

• Ongoing – encourage empowerment through LAAs, and with the Audit Commission andthrough the CAA.

21 Establish a concordat betweencentral and local government

• During autumn/winter 2007 develop a concordat to guide relations between central and localgovernment.

22 Strengthen the role of localcouncillors

• In December 2007 publish the Councillor’s Commission Report.

23 Increase local accountability andhave clearer local leadership ofpublic services

• In partnership with other government departments and the LGA we will consider how toimprove local accountability and leadership for a range of public services, including the policeand NHS.

Summary of Actions (continued)

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1.1 What is empowerment?

Community empowerment is essential forachieving excellent public services, strongand cohesive communities and a thrivingdemocracy.

Yet many individuals and communitiescurrently feel left out of the decisions thathave a profound effect on their lives. Soin the future we must do thingsdifferently. For public bodies, promotingcommunity empowerment means achange in attitudes and approach – reallylistening, being prepared to beinfluenced, and giving real responsibilityand support to local citizens. For citizens,it means being active – being prepared,

Linda Hines knows very well the power of getting involved. As a resident in thePerry Common area of North Birmingham, she and others in the area wereconcerned about the deterioration in housing. Their homes were structurallyunsound and faced demolition. Residents came together with the council tofind a solution for Perry Common, initially in a Residents’ Association.

In 1994 the Witton Lodge Community Association was formed with the help ofthe City Council, to manage the redevelopment of the Perry Common estate.This resident-led organisation ensured that the money raised from the sale ofland for homes to buy was passed on to the Association to develop homes torent. With these funds, plus additional borrowing, the Association couldcommission development and retain full control over design and build of thenew community, which included improvements to roads, play areas andcommunity facilities.

The area has been transformed over the last 13 years and the improvementsare continuing due to the involvement and energy of residents such as Linda.Partnership working with the police has improved community safety, and betteruse of green spaces has contributed to making Perry Common an area thatresidents are proud to call home.

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ER 1Introduction

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for example, to play a part in managingtheir own housing estate; talking to thepolice about neighbourhood policingpriorities; or being a governor of a localschool.

For Government it means helping toensure that:

• public bodies recognise the value ofempowerment both as a process,and in delivering more effectivedecisions;

• public bodies have the skills, supportand local knowledge to includeempowerment in their everydaywork;

• local people are equipped with thetools and confidence to cometogether and find their ownsolutions to shared challenges;

• local communities haveopportunities to take more controlover the services that make adifference to their lives;

• a framework is created to enableservice providers and local people towork together to improve the livesof everyone; and

• active citizenship is fostered throughgreater rights for people toparticipate, matched by wellunderstood responsibilities towardstheir community.

Over the last few years, much of centraland local government has become betterat engaging with communities throughbetter information, consultation processesand user feedback on services. This isimportant, but real empowerment needsto go beyond the process of engagement.It must make people feel differently aboutthemselves and their power to influence.For example, local people may becomeless concerned about proposals for newhousing when they have moreinformation about house prices, landavailability, and plans for schools andtransport.

1.2 What have we learnt?

There is a wealth of experience in how to,and how not to do communityempowerment and communityengagement, but it is not accessible andas widely shared as it should be.Experience has shown the importance ofempowering the whole community sothat as many voices as possible are heard.But we do not want to move towards

local communities where decisions arebased on the loudest voices. We alsodo not want the majority to alwaysdetermine outcomes – because somegroups would almost certainly sufferdiscrimination and exclusion.

Communities and local third sectororganisations may need practical help torun projects. We need to think aboutproper support for those charged withmaking decisions and in positions ofresponsibility. We must acknowledge thatdoing community empowerment badlycan be worse than not doing it at all.

Definitions

‘Community empowerment’ isthe giving of confidence, skills,and power to communities toshape and influence what publicbodies do for or with them.

‘Community engagement’ is theprocess whereby public bodiesreach out to communities tocreate empowermentopportunities.

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1.3 Why does empowermentmatter?

There are a number of issues that affectpeople's attitude to participating in localdecision making. These includeunderstanding of local government,whether people have the time andresources to participate and whetherpeople feel getting involved is going tomake a difference.3

People want to know that government atall levels is listening, how decisions aremade and how they can influence them.They are particularly interested in specific,often local and very practical issues and

feel strongly about the places where theylive and work. The empowerment ofpeople and communities, includingminorities, to improve their quality of lifeis crucial to the achievement of betterlocal services and outcomes.

Community empowerment is central tothe choice agenda and the effectivepersonal tailoring of services. It cancontribute to a number of outcomesincluding:

• improved quality of services,projects and programmes: betterand more responsive services,improved value for money;

• greater community cohesion andsocial inclusion: higher levels ofsocial capital, better overallconditions in deprivedneighbourhoods, and increased trustand confidence in institutions;

• a thriving democracy: increaseddemocratic legitimacy for institutions,more opportunities for active

citizenship, improved reputations forpublic bodies, and greateraccountability because of improvedinformation; and

• enhanced community capacityand learning: better levels of publicknowledge, individual skills, self-esteem and community capacity.

Empowerment is an important means ofimproving public services. Engagementin the design and delivery of services,citizens’ juries, community ownership ofassets and the ability to hold serviceproviders to account all affect servicequality. A service which reflects citizen’sneeds and involves citizens in its designor provision will be a better service.Where public service standards aregood and improving, as is the case inmany local authorities, empowermentgives incentives to promote both equityand innovation.

Approximately one quarter of peoplewould like to be more involved indecisions the council makes that affect

3 Aspden, J. and Birch, D. (2005) New Localism – Citizen Engagement, Neighbourhoods and Public Services: Evidence from Local Government,London: ODPM.

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their local area.4 We also know thatnearly one third of residents feel they caninfluence local decisions and in Londonthe figure is slightly higher, at 40 per cent.

Empowerment is linked to trust. In 2005,70 per cent of those who agreed thatthey could influence local decisions, alsosaid they trusted the local council;compared to nearly half of people whosaid they did not think they couldinfluence local decisions.

Overall satisfaction with the authority islinked to the degree to whichrespondents agree they can influencelocal decisions (see Figure 1).5

Empowerment of council tenants, whenthey have control of their housingthrough a Tenant ManagementOrganisation (TMO), can also lead tosignificant improvements in both servicesand satisfaction levels. TMOs areperforming better than their host localauthorities (LAs), and equal or surpass thetop 25 per cent of LAs in England in

4 Communities and Local Government (2007) Best Value User Satisfaction Survey 2006-07: General Survey National Report, London Communites andLocal Government.

5 Communities and Local Government (2007) Best Value User Satisfaction Survey 2006-07: General Survey National Report, London Communites andLocal Government.

6 ODPM (2002) Housing Research Summary No.174 Tenants Managing: an Evaluation of Tenant Management Organisations in England (ODPM: London).

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Figure 1: Overall Satisfaction and Subjective Empowerment

terms of repairs, re-lets, rent collectionand tenant satisfaction. 77 per cent ofTMO tenants were satisfied with the

opportunities to be involved in themanagement of their homes, comparedto 49 per cent of council tenants.6

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In Portsmouth new information aboutopportunities for community involvementhas more than doubled satisfaction ratesamongst residents when compared to thenational average – see Case Study 1.

Case Study 1: Community Involvement Directory,Portsmouth City Council

In order to raise awareness aboutcommunity involvement opportunitiesin Portsmouth, the city councildeveloped a Community InvolvementDirectory. The Directory providesinformation and contact details forthe different opportunities availableto the public to get engaged in theircommunities and local area. It includesinformation on neighbourhoodforums, community boards,community partnerships, tenantparticipation, youth councils, patientliaison, Neighbourhood Managementand voluntary activities. It alsoexplains some of the differentinformation and consultationexercises that people can sign up to,such as surveys and text messaging.

This initiative has made an importantcontribution towards the council’sempowerment activities and therehave been some impressive outcomes:

• 45% of Portsmouth residents feelthat they can ‘have a say’compared to 21% nationally;

• public satisfaction withopportunities for participation hasrisen from 48% (2001) to 56%(2005); and

• public satisfaction with services hasrisen from 77% (2004) to 83%(2005).

Source: LGA/IDEA (2006) How Local Government Devolves, and Why: Part Two – Developing Local Strategies.

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Similarly, the neighbourhood managementapproach has led to significant localimprovements in satisfaction with localservices. Findings from the nationalevaluation of neighbourhoodmanagement pathfinders show that,between 2003 and 2006, the proportionof residents who felt that they couldinfluence local decisions rose slightly, ashad the proportion of residents satisfiedwith the area as a place to live. In thesame period there was also a significantrise in satisfaction with the police andstreet cleaning7 – see Case Study 2.

7 Research Report 28. Neighbourhood Management: An Overview of the 2003 and 2006 Round 1 Pathfinder Household Surveys (Communities andLocal Government 2006).

Case Study 2: Hattersley Neighbourhood ManagementPathfinder (NMP) – ‘Clean Sweep Team’

As part of its commitment to makinglocal services more responsive to localneeds, the Hattersley NeighbourhoodManagement Pathfinder undertook aconsultation exercise with residents toidentify local priorities. The exerciseidentified the cleanliness andappearance of the local environmentas a key concern. In response, anEnvironment and Housing ThemeGroup was established, composed ofresidents and public agencies. This inturn established and monitors a‘Clean Sweep Team’ responsible fortackling street litter and fly tipping.

Residents have reportedimprovements in the area between2003 and 2006, including:

• an increase in those satisfied withthe quality of street cleansing from51 per cent to 74 per cent and

• a decrease in those who thoughtlitter and rubbish a problem from74 per cent to 60 per cent.

Source: Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder Programme. National Evaluation. Pathfinder Case Study. Impacton the Local Environment. Hattersley Neighbourhood Partnership; Tameside MBC. Prepared by Richard Meegan,European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University (August 2006)

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1.4 Our overall framework

The Government has put in place anoverall framework for promotingempowerment, based on:

• Strengthening local leadership roleand ensuring that citizens have theopportunity to have their say andget involved in local decisions;

• Promoting a series of specificmeasures across individual servicesand programmes.

We have a long history of communityparticipation, engagement andempowerment practice. In 2004, theHome Office published the Government’sframework for community capacitybuilding, Firm Foundations. In 2005,Together We Can, brought together forthe first time a wide range ofprogrammes and initiatives from acrossGovernment which showed what can beachieved when the rhetoric of communityempowerment becomes reality. Many ofthese are continuing, and good progresswas shown after the first year8.

8 Together We Can Annual Review 2005/6, HM Government June 2006.9 2004 Home Office Firm Foundations.10 Learning to Change Neighbourhoods: Lessons from the Guide Neighbourhoods Programme, Communities and Local Government 2007.11 Resources for Empowerment, Summary of Initial Findings, Involve, August 2006.

One priority identified in FirmFoundations9, and taken forward throughTogether We Can, was the importance oflearning opportunities for citizens,communities, and public bodies. TheActive Learning for Active Citizenshipprogramme is available in the Take Partlearning framework (seewww.takepart.org.) and is, for example,informing more targeted work withwomen who are under represented indecision-making structures. The GuideNeighbourhoods programme hasconfirmed how local residents can giveinspiration and support to others as partof a menu of learning opportunities,ranging from ‘seeing is believing’ visits tolong-term development support10.

The Together We Can section ofDirectGov (www.direct.gov.uk/togetherwecan) was created to supportboth active citizens and those who workwith the community by highlighting themost useful resources for communityempowerment across the field as rated byan independent review and users.11

These and many other evaluatedexamples of community empowermentpractice will be drawn together by theNational Empowerment Partnership.

1.4.1 Strengthening local leadership

Strong and Prosperous Communities –The Local Government White Paper,published in autumn 2006 set out arange of proposals for empowering localcommunities in England. We want toensure that citizens and communitieshave the opportunity to have their say,and get involved in, local decisions andservices. The Local Government andPublic Involvement in Health Bill

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introduces a new duty on local authorities(and others)12 in England to inform,consult and/or involve citizens andcommunities in local authority services,policies and decisions. Local third sectorgroups may play an important role inhelping to reach specific groups and mayhave an important advocacy rolerepresenting the most marginalised orvulnerable.

Over the next ten years the Governmentwants to put the third sector at the heartof work to build strong, active andconnected communities, with localgovernment acting as the most importantdriver in building this relationship. Thefinal report of the review into the futurerole of the third sector in social andeconomic regeneration was published inJuly 2007. The Third Sector Strategy forCommunities and Local Government13

discussion document set out proposals forstrengthening local partnership workingand supporting communities to have a

voice in setting local priorities. TheDepartment will publish a final ThirdSector Strategy by the end of the year.

From 2008, every area in the country willhave a new Local Area Agreement (LAA).These are individual agreements signed bycentral government with local authoritiesand their partners. They set out thepriorities in the local area and how thelocal authority and other public serviceproviders such as health and the policewill respond to them. Strong andProsperous Communities committedgovernment to LAAs being the only placein which targets will be agreed onoutcomes delivered by local governmentalone or in partnership thereby ensuringthat English local authorities and theirpartners have much greater discretion torespond to the needs and prioritiesexpressed by the community.

Within the national indicator set there willbe an indicator specifically on

empowerment, measuring whetherpeople feel they can influence their areaand another on rates of participationamongst different population groups,asking people whether they have in thepast year been a councillor, schoolgovernor, magistrate or member of adecision making group on a local publicissue. There is also a further indicator onsatisfaction with their neighbourhood.These will be part of the ‘place basedsurvey’ conducted in all local authorities,which will also include questions oncohesion and active citizenship. Theseindicators will also form part of theevidence reviewed in carrying out theComprehensive Area Assessment.

12 Only Best value authorities are required to meet the new duty: Local authorities; National Park Authorities; the Broads Authority; Fire & Rescue;Waste Disposal Authorities; Passenger Transport authorities; Transport for London; Greater London Authority; and the London Development Agency.

13 Third Sector strategy for Communities and Local Government: a discussion paper, Communities and Local Government 2007.

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Many areas are already using innovativeempowerment techniques to ensure thattheir citizens and communities are at theheart of developing and delivering theirLAAs (see case study 3). We want towork with areas to help spread thislearning and good practice more widely,so that elected representatives andofficers everywhere have the skills theyneed for empowerment. And where keyindicators on empowerment and citizensatisfaction suggest that these issues arepriorities for improvement in an area, wewould expect them to featureprominently in LAA negotiations.

The Local Government Association(LGA) conducted in 2007 a rapidsurvey of member authorities’ practicein the area of communityempowerment which suggests thatgood practice is becomingwidespread. On a sample of 102councils – a quarter of the sector –the survey shows:

90% have neighbourhoodforums/meetings which areopen to the public;

90% use residents’ focus groups

83% allow questions from the publicat council/committee meetings

64% hold interactive budgetconsultations (open meetings,road shows, public debates etc)

30% have ward budgets forindividual councillors

28% guarantee an automaticresponse to petitions

24% use citizens’ juries

10% have a leaders/chief executives’blog to which the public cancomment.

Box 1. Community Empowerment in Local Authorities

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The Governance of Britain green paper,14

published in July this year, set out theGovernment’s view that in addition toParliament and local government somepower must also rest with localcommunities. People who havedemonstrated that they are willing areenabled to take on a more active localrole and so help improve services andcreate stronger communities. The greenpaper committed Government toconsulting on the following areas:

• extending the right of people tointervene with their electedrepresentatives through communityrights to call for action;

• duties to consult on major decisionsthrough mechanisms such ascitizens’ juries;

• powers of redress to scrutinise andimprove the delivery of localservices; and

• powers to ballot on spendingdecisions.

14 Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (2007) The Governance of Britain (green paper) London: HMSO.

Case Study 3: LAAs already prioritising empowerment

In Sandwell, ‘Town Teams’ areundertaking further work to consultand involve local communities intown forums, working directly withlocal town youth forums andintegrating local representative groupsto engage local networks and localcitizens in the transformation of theborough. Progress has been made in

developing networks to empowercommunities, who have beenidentified as traditionally beingexcluded or marginalised from localdecision making such as disabilitycommunities; ethnic minoritycommunities; young people (YoungPeople’s Parliament) and older people(Agewell).

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15 Section 507B of the Education Act 1996 – introduced through section 6 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 ensures that a single bodyworking within the context of the children’s trust holds lead responsibility for securing young people’s access to positive activities. The Educationand Inspections Act came into force in January 2007 with guidance issued in Autumn 2007.

1.4.2 Empowering children and youngpeople

We are already taking steps to unleashthe energy and enthusiasm of youngpeople to shape their services. There isa new duty on local authorities toprovide and promote positive activityopportunities for young people15.Empowerment is a strong theme ofthe 10 year strategy for young peoplepublished in July 2007.

In order to comply with the new dutychildren’s trusts must ensure that thedecisions local authorities make aboutpositive activities are open to scrutinyand challenge. Overview and scrutinycommittees may decide to review delivery.Ward councillors may challenge theprovision of activities in theirneighbourhoods in response to feedbackfrom young people and residents. Thelead member for children’s services shouldensure that young people’s voices areheard through seeking their feedback onthe effectiveness of services. Some localauthorities have young people's

Case Study 4: Rochdale Junior Neighbourhood Wardens

In Rochdale, the Bowlee Park HousingAssociation and the NeighbourhoodWardens Scheme have set up a JuniorNeighbourhood Wardens Scheme.The aim of the initiative is to providelocal children with an opportunity toget involved and make a contributionto their community.

The Junior Wardens are givenuniforms and books in which theyrecord problems in the area such asvandalism, graffiti, repairs, dangerousor poorly maintained buildings andpaths. These are reported to theNeighbourhood Wardens. The juniorwarden with the most reports in themonth is rewarded with a familyouting. The Junior Wardens also help

community groups withenvironmental projects, such asmaintaining gardens in shelteredaccommodation.

Becoming a Junior Warden is nowa matter of some pride for youngpeople. In order to become wardensthey must have a clear record withschools and police for at least threemonths and this creates newmotivation for those at risk ofoffending, truanting or exclusion.Most importantly, this schemeprovides 170 children with anopportunity to contribute to theircommunity and make a difference totheir local area.

Source: Gafney, M (2005) Civic Pioneers: Local People, Local Government, Working Together to Make Life Better,London: Home Office.

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champions – for example, a LocalChildren's Commissioner, YoungAdvocate or Young Mayor.

The response to the youth green paperYouth Matters: Next Steps, in March2006, introduced the Youth Opportunityand Capital Funds. Between 2006 and2009 these are giving young people (viatheir local authorities) the power todetermine the spending of £115 millionon youth services and facilities in theirlocal communities. Building on thesuccess of the scheme, £200 million willbe made available to continue toempower young people through thisscheme (particularly in the mostdisadvantaged communities) over thenext three years.

Case Study 5: Young people supporting their communities

“Being a Young Advisor has not onlytaken me to London for the first timeever, but given me the confidence toaddress local, regional and nationalmeetings on matters affecting mygeneration. I help local authorities,housing associations and otherpartners to ‘youth proof’ theirstrategies. So now we have a voice atall levels of government.” (EmmaRichardson, YA)

Young Advisors are young people’s‘champions’ aged 15-21 years. Theyspeak out for young people, telling awide range of decision makers whatyoung people believe theircommunities need, compared to whatlocal planners think is feasible. Theyadvise adults, community leaders andagencies how to better engage youngpeople in community life andregeneration, having been trained to‘youth proof’ policies and practices.They also work directly with youngpeople to encourage them to getinvolved in regeneration.

The Young Advisors scheme wasdesigned and initiated byCommunities and Local Governmentand was set up within existing NewDeal for Communities (NDC)regeneration projects in Hull,Middlesbrough, Manchester andBrighton. The model has proved to bevery successful with 20 schemes nowin operation with a further 16 in thepipeline. They have:

• Designed a training package forLSPs, on the necessity of involvingyoung people (through YoungAdvisors) in Local AreaAgreements.

• Conducted a community healthsurvey for a PCT in the Wirral.

• Youth Proofed Connexions Strategy.“Youth Proofing the strategy meantthat young people were able tounderstand what was being donefor them and question it.”

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1.4.3 Promoting empowerment inparticular programmes

Respect: The Respect Action Plan,published in January 2006 set out tocreate a modern culture of respect incommunities. This involved a crossgovernment programme including, forexample, greater empowerment of youngpeople for example alongside more toolsand powers for local councils, police andlandlords to prevent and tackle anti-socialbehaviour head on. Empowerment is atthe heart of the Respect programme.

Neighbourhood renewal: Since thepublication of the National Strategy forNeighbourhood Renewal in 2000 theGovernment has made positive progressin closing the gap between the mostdeprived authorities and the nationalaverage on key floor targets, althoughperformance at the neighbourhood levelhas been more mixed. The New Deal forCommunities was established as a majorprogramme for extending power to localcommunities in deprived areas. Residentswere placed “at the heart of NDCs’

decision making”. All NDCs haveresidents on the board – see Case Study6. There is growing evidence that this hasaltered local peoples’ perceptions ofregeneration and their willingness toengage with it. In 2006, nearly a quarterof local residents across 39 NDC areashad been involved in NDC activities, anincrease over the last four years. Duringthe same time period, there was a 7percentage point increase in the numberof NDC residents who feel part of thecommunity, and a small increase in thosewho felt able to influence localdecisions.16

Neighbourhood management: This hasbeen a valuable mechanism for involvinglocal residents in influencing localservices. In addition, communityempowerment networks, supportedthrough the Neighbourhood RenewalProgramme, have tested out a range ofdifferent structures for engaging peoplefrom across the whole spectrum of thevoluntary and community sector ininfluencing community strategies, the

Local Strategic Partnership, and thematicpolicy areas such as crime and communitysafety.

16 National Evaluation of New Deal for Communities Household Survey. 2006 Ipsos-MORI.

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Case Study 6: Shoreditch Trust – NDC in HackneyPeer Education – Community Development Programme

Shoreditch Trust has pioneered peereducation and health guides. TheTrust set up the Peer EducationScheme in 2002 and over 120 localpeople have so far completed thecourse. It provides students with theskills necessary to become acommunity interpreter, advocate andpeer educator in the community, withan opportunity to develop their owncommunity project and improvefundraising skills. Peer educatorsmove on to paid or voluntaryadvocacy positions applying the skillsthey acquired while on the course toa variety of full time or part timeemployment, frequently in thefrontline of regeneration, health,education or related sectors.

“Attending the course helped me toimprove my skills and experience inworking with the community, anddeal with the issues which affectpeople. It was also very enjoyable anda chance to meet people from a widerange of backgrounds who live inthe area. Since being on the course, I have been able to do many things:I have worked as a communityresearcher in health and social carefields and also for the ShoreditchTrust’s housing team. I have helpedwith youth football coaching andvolunteered with the Shoreditch Spaand the Shoreditch Festival. Thecourse has provided me with thepersonal development skills andknowledge to get involved in a rangeof fields. I am a Shoreditch Trustboard member” [David Moro.]

Neighbourhood Policing: Work isunderway to integrate neighbourhoodpolicing with neighbourhoodmanagement. In his recent interim report,Sir Ronnie Flanagan said that thefollowing factors are critical in deliveringsuccessful neighbourhood policing:17

• Visible, accessible and locally knownfigures;

• community involvement inidentifying priorities, followed bytargeted police action and problemsolving to tackle them; and

• strong relationships and jointworking with local partners toaddress community safety andquality of life issues.

The Commission on Integration andCohesion: The independent Commissionon Integration and Cohesion’s report,Our Shared Future, was published on14 June and put forward a wide-rangingset of recommendations. It emphasisedthe importance of communityengagement to building cohesion. The

17 Flanagan, R, (2007) The Review of Policing: Interim Report, London: Home Office.

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Government has welcomed the directionof the report and on 5 Octoberannounced a £50m investment incohesion along with a first set of actionsarising from the report, including thepublication of guidance on Citizens’ Day.There will be further announcements inthe New Year.

1.5 What needs to change?

Taken together, the framework set outabove represents a significant shift toenable a new relationship betweencitizens, communities and government.This was reinforced by the ComprehensiveSpending Review for 2008-11. CentralGovernment is delivering on our intentionto devolve more power. From April 2008there will be more local financialflexibility. The number of local indicatorswill decrease from 1200 to just under 200.

Strong and Prosperous Communities –local government white paperacknowledged that the time had comefor devolution to local government. Atthe same time the white paper madeclear that unprecedented freedom forlocal authorities needed to go hand inhand with strong links to localcommunities. Councils and communitiesnow have more power to take action onthe issues local people care aboutwhether it's tackling guns and gangs,providing more affordable housing orimproving the local neighbourhood.

We now need more of local governmentto participate in achieving a significantshift in power towards local communities.For those who, at the moment, designand deliver local services, this means achange in the way they work. Movingaway from ‘top down’ working, to anapproach that treats the needs andwishes of communities as central to theirbusiness and that tries always to meetthose needs with services that are tailoredto local circumstances.

It means local agencies, such asneighbourhood policing teams, mobilisingthe positive will of the many to counterthe anti-social destructive actions of theminority. Local people of all ages, comingtogether to participate in and shape localservices to ensure they address the thingspeople care about in their community;crime and anti-social behaviour, safe andclean streets and high quality andwelcoming public spaces, schools, leisureand health services.

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18 Varney, D (2006) Service transformation: A better service for citizens and businesses, a better deal for the taxpayer, London: HMT.

It may mean changing the way money isspent and – to some extent – what it isspent on. We must ensure that this doesnot become a demand for ever moremoney, but accept that involving therepresentatives of service users inchoosing the priorities will change thedecisions that are made. More and more,local authorities are not delivering servicesthemselves, but commissioning others todo so. For example, instead of runningthe local sports centre themselves, theycontract with a locally-run company to doit, or establish a mutual or trust. Becauseauthorities are less wrapped up in day-to-day business, while still reviewingperformance to ensure that services areup to standard, they have greateropportunities to talk to the communityand put in place the services that localpeople need.

There are therefore significantopportunities to rethink how weapproach service delivery and to useinvolvement in the design and delivery ofservices as a tool to develop and promotecohesion, community empowerment, andactive citizenship. It should result in

greater personalisation and better choicesfor users and communities.

As set out in the Varney report the nextstage of public service reform mustinvolve engaging citizens and businessesmore fully in the design and delivery ofpublic services, it must transform contactwith citizens and businesses.18

We also recognise that rights andresponsibility go hand in hand. Respect isa two way street. Those that want tocontribute positively should be supported.Those that do not respect local services orothers in their community should bechallenged. Empowerment needs peopleto feel safe to speak up and have theirsay. People will not feel empowered ifthey are afraid to leave their house.

The challenge now is to acceleratechange and do more to spread the goodpractices many local authorities andcommunities have already established, sothat more communities can benefit andso our local democracy can thrive.Communities will be full of difference andvariation. We must ensure thatempowerment opportunities exist in

many forms so all citizens can have theopportunity to participate.

This action plan sets out Commmunitiesand Local Government’s work towardsthree key outcomes:

• Greater participation, collectiveaction, engagement in democracy;

• Changes in attitudes towardscommunity empowerment; and

• Improved performance of publicservices and quality of life.

1.6 Action plan

This action plan sets out the stepsCommunities and Local Government isalready taking, working acrossgovernment and in partnership withothers, to bring about lasting change inthe relationship between communitiesand public bodies. There is a significantamount of work already in progress.

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19 Where financial provision has not already been made or allowed for, Government will provide additional money ensuring that no additionalpressure is placed on council tax. Some actions are subject to consultation and Government will ensure that the policies it decides to take forwardare funded.

This plan aims to add value by bringing allthe Communities and Local Governmentactivity together in one place, making thelinks with our wider agendas for betterand more responsive services, andhighlighting areas where we want tocontinue working closely with colleaguesin other Government Departments. Thiswill open up opportunities for moreconsultation and dialogue. This plandemonstrates a commitment to beingmore ambitious and is a building block ina process of change. By summer 2008 wewill review and report on our progressand will be developing a cross governmentapproach to community empowerment.

The action plan sets out activities in threekey areas:

• developing more opportunitieslocally;

• supporting and enabling citizens totake up empowermentopportunities; and

• strengthening local representativedemocracy.

It sets a fast pace and much of the workis already underway. Quarterly updateswill be provided atwww.communities.gov.uk/communities/communityempowerment and we haveset up an online forum where views canbe exchanged. We welcome your viewson this document by 19 January 2008and we will review our progress inSummer 2008.

Central government cannot facilitatelasting change alone. It is esssential thatwe enable all community members,including the third sector, electedrepresentatives, and local businesses toflourish and prosper and give localgovernment the freedom and flexibility towork with their communities.Government is committed to ensuringthat it does not place unfunded newburdens on local authorities.19

In each of the nine English regions,Regional Improvement and EfficiencyPartnerships have a key role in workingtogether with local authorities, voluntary

and community sector organisations andpartner agencies to respond to regionalimprovement priorities. Communityempowerment is central to theimprovement agenda.

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CH

APT

ER 2Widening and deepening empowerment opportunities locally

The more opportunities people have tomake a difference, the better they feelabout the services they have helped toshape – and the better they feel aboutthe institutions providing them. We willwork closely with local authorities todevelop proposals set out in the localgovernment white paper and enablethem to create a menu of opportunitieslocally, building on the good practicethat already exists in many areas.

The environment will changesignificantly following newlegislation:

1. We will move towards more citizenfocused services with guidance inSpring 2008, (following publicconsultation), to accompany the LocalGovernment and Public Involvementin Health Bill. This will cover the newduty to involve and the new duty to co-operate to encourage greater co-operation across the different publicservice providers to deliver services thatmeet citizens’ expectations.

2. We will consult soon to shape theregulations and guidance forimplementation of the new SustainableCommunities Act.

Empowerment will be embedded inparticular programmes:

3. We are increasing the opportunities forpeople to have more of a say in housingmanagement with a simplification ofthe process for establishing tenantmanagement organisations, an increasein the number of asset transfers anddeveloping options for Arms LengthManagement Organisations.

4. We will give citizens a greater role inplanning, for example by increasinggrant aid to Planning Aid.

5. We will embed communityempowerment in all our cohesionactivities.

We will promote specific approacheslocally:

6. We will announce more pilotparticipatory budgeting schemes inNovember 2007. We will commission asurvey of the extent of participatorybudgeting shortly. In 2008 we willconsult on a strategy with the aim ofparticipatory budgeting being offeredeverywhere by 2012.

7. We will establish a number of citizensjuries to advise on Communities andLocal Government policy.

8. We will launch a consultation onlocal petitions in Autumn 2007.

9. We will publish guidance and atoolkit for Local Charters: voluntaryagreement between Communities andLocal Government, this autumn incollaboration with the YoungFoundation and a trial programme withkey partners in 12 areas, to run to theend of March 2008.

10. We will continue to develop onlinetools to support empowerment anddemocracy.

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2.1 What is the issue?

The majority of the population in Englandis involved in either civic participation,informal or formal volunteering – onlyabout one fifth do not undertake anyactivities.20 Recent evidence suggests thatyouth participation in civic activities isstrong. Half of all young people had givenhelp to a group, club or organisation inthe last year.21 Participation in informalvolunteering was highest among youngpeople aged 16 to 24 (40 per cent),whilst a quarter of young people aged16-24 participated in formal volunteering.

We need to now widen and deepenopportunities to ensure that everyone canfind a way to make a difference whichbest suits them and their circumstances.

We must consider how we can build onthis community and civic involvement andturn it into political engagement. Wemust increase people’s influence overservice provision and local decisions andreach those who are not currentlyengaged in either.

Current practices are not seen as acommon, integrated approach tocommunity empowerment, but too oftenas isolated and unrelated initiatives. Thereis also no commonly recognised way ofassessing the quality of empowermentpractice.

Government can help to create the rightconditions with tools such as communitykitties, local charters and a culture ofwillingness to engage with local juries orpanels. But Government cannot leadcommunity empowerment – that mustcome from communities themselves.

The tools may vary in different areas.Different areas will start in differentplaces: some will need lots of support;others will be more ready to take forwardsome of the actions set out below.

Action 1: Secure more citizen focusedservices

Everyone has a role to play in creatingstrong and prosperous communities, withhigh quality and citizen focused services.In every area, councils and local publicservice partners are already working inpartnership with local businesses, thirdsector organisations and local people toimprove local well-being.

We will be publishing, for consultation,statutory guidance which will set out howthe new legislation under the LocalGovernment Public Involvement in HealthBill will help to empower citizens andlocal agencies to take this agenda to thenext level. It will put the shaping of placesand empowering communities at theheart of local government's role. It willalso emphasise the need for greater co-operation, including the possibility of

20 Communities and Local Government (2007) Citizenship Survey: April – June 2007, England and Wales.21 Communities and Local Government (2007) Citizenship Survey: April – June 2007, England and Wales.

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shared commissioning across the differentpublic service providers to better meet theexpectations of their citizens.

We want to strengthen the role of localauthorities, as commissioners of servicesas well as direct providers. The thirdsector as well as the private sector is nowan important provider of local publicservices. Communities, and sometimesindividual users, need to be activelyengaged and involved at each stage ofthe commissioning cycle22. In this waylocal authorities can give effect to boththeir duty of involvement but also, secureservices which are valued by users andcommunities and offer best value in theirfunctions.

The forthcoming statutory guidance willcover:

• The role of Local StrategicPartnerships in bringingstakeholders together to develop theshared vision for the area, conveninglocal public services to secure betteroutcomes for people and places

• The importance of the SustainableCommunity Strategy – setting theoverall strategic direction and long-term vision for the economic, socialand environmental well-being of alocal area. It tells the proposed ‘storyof the place’ – the distinctive visionand ambition of the area.

• The duty to involve – ensuringlocal partnerships further empowerlocal communities in shaping thefuture of their area. This duty is notjust about consulting people. Itrequires authorities to provideinformation about local decisions,policies and services. It also requiresauthorities to provide opportunitiesfor more active participation indecisions and in the design, deliveryand assessment of local services andpolicies

• The duty to co-operate betweenthe local authority and ‘namedpartners’ in agreeing and havingregard to targets in Local AreaAgreements – cementing theshared commitment (by both local

partners and central government) tothe vision for an area, and becomingin effect the delivery vehicle for theSustainable Community Strategy

• How priorities are translated intoactions through strategiccommissioning, to ensure bestvalue is secured for citizens andcommunities

The Bill also contains measures designedto update the patient and publicinvolvement system. It gives localauthorities a duty to contract with a hostorganisation to establish a LocalInvolvement Network (LINk). Activities willinclude promoting, and supporting, theinvolvement of people in thecommissioning, provision and scrutiny oflocal care services; and enabling peopleto monitor and review the commissioningand provision of local care services.

Action 2: Implement the newSustainable Communities Act

The Sustainable Communities Bill giveslocal people the opportunity to makesuggestions about what they think needs

22 e.g. assessing needs, establishing priorities, securing services and selecting providers, reviewing performance & seeking service improvement.

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to be done to promote the sustainabilityof their local community. We expect theBill to become law very shortly. Under thelegislation, the Government will invitelocal authorities to make proposals abouthow best to promote local sustainability.If they choose to make a proposal, localauthorities must first consult panels ofrepresentatives of local people and try toreach agreement with them about whichproposals should go forward. We willshortly begin a consultation to help shapethe regulations and guidance that will bepublished to support this provision.

Action 3: Give tenants a greater rolein housing management

Communities and Local Government’sconsultation on tenant empowermentduring summer 2007 set out proposalsto give tenants a greater voice in themanagement and ownership of theirhomes. These include:

• simplifying the Housing (Right toManage) Regulations 1994 for localauthority tenants;

• promoting a voluntary tenantmanagement process for all socialhousing tenants and landlords;

• developing ways for TenantManagement Organisations toextend their role to wider servicesin the neighbourhood and helpingsmooth the way by identifying theopportunities and barriers theremight be, and

• creating a National Tenant Voice.

We are also considering whether tolegislate to clarify the current tenantconsultation arrangements during stocktransfer proposals and to allow tenantsto pursue estate-based transfers. We areproposing that where a group of tenantshave completed a stock options studyand that the best option is a transfer ofmanagement or ownership, then the localauthority would have to start the transferprocess. This should increase the numberof transfers going forward. And finally,we will be considering options for ArmsLength Management Organisations, eitherled or owned by tenants.

Respect Standard for housingmanagement

As of summer 2007, over 350 sociallandlords have signed up to theRespect Standard for housingmanagement covering nearly twothirds of social housing stock.Landlords who sign the standard makea public commitment to deliveringgood services to help stop anti-socialbehaviour and create a culture ofrespect. The Standard asks landlordsto deliver on six core commitments,including empowering and reassuringresidents, with the expectation thatthe community will be heavily involvedin the sign up process, for example,helping the landlord to identify andaddress any gaps in service provision.To accompany the standard a toolkithas been published on measuringsuccess, which places prominence onthe importance of involving residentsin establishing local performanceindicators as well as measuringprogress against them.

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Action 4: Give citizens a greater rolein planning

Planning is also changing. TheGovernment’s proposals for the reform ofdevelopment consents include proposalsthat government departments shouldconsult the public on national policystatements for infrastructure sectors,such as transport, that scheme promotersshould be under a statutory duty toconsult local communities beforesubmitting an application for a nationallysignificant infrastructure project and thatinquiries into applications should be moreaccessible. Grant funding for bodiessuch as Planning Aid will be increased by£1.5 million a year to provide freeprofessional planning advice to help localcommunities and individuals participate inthese new arrangements.

We are also doing more to help peopleengage with the planning system in theirarea. Many local authorities already usetheir websites to make sure citizens andcommunity groups are aware of planningapplications in their neighbourhood, butmore can be done to help citizens helpthemselves. We are building an e-consultation hub which will initially link

every local authority with the rangeof statutory bodies that need to beconsulted, and next year we plan towiden this to the general public. Peoplewill be able to register the area they areinterested in, and be alerted by emailor possibly by SMS text message whenan application is received in their area,and be able to feed back their commentson the application directly to the localauthority. This will help people feel thatthey are able to influence decisions intheir neighbourhood.

Action 5: Embed communityempowerment in cohesion activities

The new Public Service Agreement (PSA)to ‘build more cohesive, empoweredand active communities’ is aboutstrengthening and reinforcing theseassociated agendas. The Governmentrecognises that faith communitiescontribute to social and communitycohesion through the values and activitiesthat underpin good citizenship, suchas altruism, respect for others, ethicalbehaviour and community solidarity.

Communities and Local Government hasworked with the Citizenship Foundationto produce guidance for local authoritieson how to run a Citizens’ Day. Suchdays are aimed at building a sense ofbelonging and interaction in communities,and can also promote volunteering,electoral registration and empowermentmore generally. This will be published inthe coming weeks.

Local forums, perhaps as part of LocalStrategic Partnerships are important localactivities to tackle extremism. Althoughforums are primarily led by Muslimcommunities they work closely with otherfaiths to build community cohesion andbreak down barriers.

Communities and Local Government hashelped Muslim communities to launch13 forums in the last year – see CaseStudy 7. We aim to raise this number to40 by April 2008.

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Action 6: Move towards morecommunity kitties

Participatory budgeting means giving thelocal community a direct say over part ofa public budget and letting them decidewhat is most important for theircommunity, whether it is street cleaning,leisure facilities for young people or trafficcalming. It encourages debate betweenlocal people about the future of theirarea, and helps to build links betweenthem. Most of all, it gives more peoplethe confidence to be able to say “This ismy community – and I want to dosomething about it” – see Case Study 8for an example of how this can work inpractice. There are currently ten formalparticipatory budgeting pilots in England.

Case Study 7: Forums against Extremism and Islamophobia

Forums bring together localcommunities with local authorities,the police and other local players toact as the hub for work on tacklingviolent extremism at a local level.They provide a safe space for localcommunities to discuss the problemand agree how they want to tackle it.

In many areas forums have drivenforward work to tackle extremism.Reading Forum has recruited anumber of community ambassadors

who have chaired and facilitated13 road shows to discuss violentextremism. The road shows areintended to form the basis forongoing dialogue with the localcommunity.

The Dudley Forum feeds into its LocalStrategic Partnership through existingcommunity cohesion structures andhas a strategic role in driving forwardprojects to tackle extremism.

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We will commission a survey of existingactivity shortly. We are part funding theParticipatory Budgeting Unit23, who areengaging with local authorities to roll itout further and in November 2007 wewill be announcing more pilot schemes.We are keen to work with partnerships toexplore how the participatory budgetingapproach might be applied in the contextof new Local Area Agreements, and othernew contexts such as rural areas.

In 2008 we will consult on a strategy withthe aim of participatory budgeting beingadopted or offered everywhere by 2012.The strategy will set out how we proposeto join up with other policies, forexample, the 10 Year Youth Strategy24

and the Government’s ambition for localauthorities to be able to devolve up to5 per cent of their budget for youthservices to young people’s influence by2010 and that, by 2018, young peoplecould actively shape decisions on onequarter of these budgets.

Case Study 8: Bradford Vision Participatory Budgeting

Bradford Vision, the Local StrategicPartnership for the Bradford district,has held five participatory budgetingevents over the past five years andallocated over £1M of public funds inthis way.

The pilot in Keighley has allocated£130,000 from the NeighbourhoodRenewal Fund (NRF) programme. Over400 residents were consulted inneighbourhoods eligible for the NRF(via door-to-door and localcommunity events). Residentsprioritised concerns under safercommunities, children and youngpeople, environment, health, housing,learning, sport and leisure and olderpeople. Over 250 people attendedthe “decision day” in November 2006and voted on over 60 projects, with40 projects receiving funding;

residents were then also invited to“scrutiny panels” to monitor projectdelivery.

Evaluation of participatory budgetingin Bradford demonstrates how wellthey engaged with both young andold and different parts of thecommunity. It also shows that peopledid not only vote for their owninterests. For example, the top twospending priorities voted for in theKeighley project, where the majorityof participants were from an Asianbackground, were neither projects forAsian groups, nor from theirimmediate geographical area. Thisdemonstrates strong cohesionimpacts of bringing communitiestogether to take decisions overbudgets.

“Participatory Budgeting in the UK: an evaluation from a practitioner perspective” report and research by KeziaLavan, the Participatory Budgeting Unit, published June 2007.

23 The Participatory Budgeting Unit is a third sector organisation run by Church Action on Poverty and part funded by Communities and LocalGovernment, set up to provide advice and guidance to practitioners and help promote and develop participatory budgeting.

24 Aiming High for Young People: A Ten Year Strategy for Positive Activities, 2007.

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Action 7: Establish citizens’ juries tohelp shape policy

Citizens’ juries look at real issues andsolutions, to help us develop and deliverpolicy and reflect the Government’sbroader commitment on engagement.Communities and Local Government willbe using juries to consider issues ofcohesion, migration and housing.

There are different forms of citizens’ jurybut all are made up of a number ofrandomly selected lay people who arebroadly representative of the widerpopulation. The jury is asked to consider aspecific issue and hear evidence from arange of specialist witnesses beforedrawing their conclusions and makingpublic recommendations. Whilst there areslightly different approaches toestablishing citizens’ juries in terms ofsize, composition and outputs, all arebased on the idea of deliberative andparticipative democracy.

Action 8: Require a response topetitions and ‘Community Calls forAction’

A community call for action25 enhancesthe role of elected representatives topromote local people’s concerns abouttheir area, by demanding a response fromtheir local council. In the Governance ofBritain green paper we said that wewould consider introducing a duty thatrequires local authorities to consider andinvestigate petitions from localcommunities and guarantees petitionersand the wider community a response.26

See Case Study 9.

We will launch a consultation coveringboth these issues in the autumn of 2007.

Action 9: Develop more local charters:agreements between local authoritiesand communities

The local government white paper, Strongand Prosperous Communities states thatthe Government will ‘encourage’ thedevelopment of local charters in the formof a voluntary agreement between a localauthority and a local community.27 Localauthorities have the freedom to decidetheir own policy about charters. Incollaboration with the Young Foundationwe will be seeking to publish guidancewith a toolkit for Charters this autumn.

We are seeking ways of supporting thedevelopment of local charters. We will aimto support a number of areas to test andapply the guidance in practice during early2008, supporting the development oflocal charters as the basis for engagingcommunities in their neighbourhood. Wewill aim to build in mechanisms to captureand share practitioner learning throughthe National Neighbourhood ManagementNetwork (NNMN). The trial programmewould run to the end of March 2008.

25 Communities and Local Government (2007) Local Government Public Involvement in Health Bill.26 Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (2007) The Governance of Britain (Green Paper) London: HMSO. 27 Communities and Local Government (2006) Strong and Prosperous Communities – The Local Government White Paper, London: TSO.

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Action 10: Continue to develop on-line tools to supportempowerment and democracy

Supporting organisations and individualsto adopt a culture of engagement is keyto widening and deepeningempowerment opportunities locally. Inpartnership with the Ministry of Justiceand the Sustainable DevelopmentCommission we will continue to developwww.peopleandparticipation.net.

New forms of information andcommunication on the internet have thepotential to enable greater empowermentfor all sections of society. Innovative tools,such as www.neighbourhhoodfixit.com,allow people to report local issues, suchas pavement repairs and graffiti, in aformat that enables the whole communityto be kept informed of progress.Communities and Local Government,working with others in government, willtherefore encourage such developments.

Case Study 9: Petitions in Barking and Dagenham

The first step in dealing with apetition in Barking and Dagenham isto determine how many people havesigned it. If the petition has signaturesfrom 100 or more separate addresses,it is automatically reported to the nextcouncil assembly meeting. The leadpetitioner is invited to attend theassembly to present the petition andaddress the meeting for up to fiveminutes. At the meeting councillorsget to question the petitioner orrelevant officers for up to tenminutes. The portfolio holderconcerned then responds andexplains what will happen to thepetition.

Depending on the petition the seniorofficer dealing with the petitioncontacts the lead petitioner, theportfolio holder and ward councillorsafter the meeting to tell them whataction the council will be taking.The council has to notify the leadpetitioner of the outcome of itsconsideration of the petition withintwo months of the assembly meeting.

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For those who, at the moment, designand deliver local services, there will bea change in the way they work;moving away from ‘top down’working, to ways of working that takethe needs and wishes of communitiesinto account and that try to meetthose needs with services that aretailored to local circumstances.

National level activity will help toevaluate, spread best practice andpromote empowerment:

11. We will support the NationalEmpowerment Partnership, anumbrella group of national bodies, toquality assure communityempowerment practice and share bestpractice

12. We will support a network ofempowering authorities, led by acouple of areas in each region, whowill showcase best practice in particularlocalities and different approaches, andtrial peer learning programmes at asenior level.

13. We will have a national ‘Take Part’campaign to promote communityempowerment and we will explore howcitizens can be encouraged andsupported to get involved in a muchmore systematic and cost effective way.We will produce a ‘menu’ of thedifferent opportunities that exist, anda series of ‘how to’ guides andinformation sources to help people getstarted.

14. We will mainstream empowermentas an improvement priority for localgovernment.

15. The Communities Secretary will beinviting community activists andexperts to join her in a series ofroundtable discussions to shape ourfuture plans: putting face to faceengagement at the heart of policy-making

16. We will publish new guidance onlocal authority asset management, anda toolkit on how to manage the risks inasset transfer in Spring 2008.Workshops for local authorities and

community organisations are beingheld over the winter and 20 areas arebeing supported to develop apartnership approach to asset transfer.

Locally we want to make it easier forthe individual who wants toparticipate, using online access.

17. We will bring forward proposals tofacilitate the adoption of best practicein giving people the performanceinformation they need, when theyneed it.

18. Over the next three years, we willinvest, with the Office of the ThirdSector, in the long-term sustainabilityof the third sector through supportingcommunity anchors to develop theirrole in stimulating opportunities,attracting resources and supportingcommunity sector organisations at aneighbourhood level.

19. We will support Community LandTrusts

20. We will measure empowermentand make it more visible

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3.1 What is the issue?

There is an emerging body of evidence tosuggest that, when service providerschange the way they work and engagecommunities in planning and carrying outthe services, there are improvements allround. Neighbourhood management,involving the local community and serviceproviders in improving services, is workingsuccessfully in over 300 differentneighbourhoods. In community safetyNeighbourhood Policing is contributing toa fall in crime and is helping tackle thefear of crime. In environmentalmanagement though the PathfinderProgramme, the involvement of localpeople in waste management and

grounds maintenance is associated withsignificant improvements in the state ofstreets and neighbourhoods.

Action 11: Support the NationalEmpowerment Partnership

Activity to empower citizens andcommunities varies in effectiveness fromone area to another, and the level ofunderstanding and commitment to itsimportance also varies. We are supportingthe National Empowerment Partnership(NEP) to create the right conditions formore empowerment activities across thecountry. The Partnership is a flexible andresponsive group of nationalorganisations for whom achieving localempowerment is a key element of theirwork. The national bodies, include UrbanForum, the Community Sector Coalition,the IDeA and the CommunityDevelopment Foundation (who aremanaging the NEP).

The Partnership will provide a pooled andflexible source of information which willhelp us measure and raise awareness ofthe excellent practice that exists, idenitify

gaps and advise those areas andorganisations that need assistance inraising their game. This Partnership willseek to join up with the work of othersacross government who are promotingbetter community empowerment inrelation to specific services.

Action 12: Facilitate a nationalnetwork of empowering authorities

We want to shine a spotlight on localauthority areas where there are specificexamples of best practice in communityengagement and empowerment. Thiswill enable us both to highlight what ishappening on the ground for others tolearn from, and also identify and shareexperience of the culture change thatis necessary within local authorities tosupport such excellent practice.

In order to achieve this, Communities andLocal Government and the LGA haveinvited an initial group of 18 localcouncils to join a new network ofempowering authorities, based on theirexisting involvement in a range ofestablished programmes and initiatives,including Communities and LocalGovernment’s Civic Pioneers network.

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Our aims will be to:

• spotlight and publicise examples ofbest practice in communityengagement and empowerment,either in a particular neighbourhoodor locality, or dealing with a specificinterest group or theme;

• promote learning amongstcouncillors and officers, through aprogramme managed by the IDeA,in order to support the kind ofculture change necessary to makereal progress;

• provide a mechanism for theauthorities in the network tocontribute to national thinking fromtheir experience.

Our primary focus will be to encourageinformation dissemination and peerlearning in ways that can be replicatedand shared in the longer term, inpartnership with the RegionalImprovement and Efficiency Partnerships.This will assist authorities both withpreparing for the introduction of the Dutyto involve, and with responding to theempowerment indicators now availablewithin the national indicator set. Asempowerment is embedded within the

national indicators we hope that thisnetwork will guide all local authorities tothe tools they could use to embed goodempowerment practice by 2010. In thiswe believe that the network will beentirely complementary to the ongoingBeacon Council scheme, whichrecognises, through a competitiveprocess, excellence in particular functionsand services.

Support for capacity building will befurther helped by the publication in theAutumn of a National Improvement andEfficiency Strategy which will beimplemented in March 2008

Action 13: Have a ‘Take Part’campaign

Many people who would like to getinvolved and have a say simply aren’taware of the opportunities. Some maynot realise that their skills and experiencecould be used to inform local services;others may not realise how easy it can beto get involved. A national campaign willhelp get the message across andintroduce potentially millions of people tothe opportunities available locally to makea difference to their street,neighbourhood or community.

There are many ways for people to getinvolved in decisions locally; they can trainfor the magistracy, stand for the council,take part in the governance of the localschool or PCT, or set up a residents groupor neighbourhood forum to bring peopletogether or join a local neighbourhoodmanagement set up. To help people findthe way and know how to tackle an issuethat concerns them locally, we willproduce a ‘menu’ of the differentopportunities that exist, and a series of‘how to’ guides and information sourcesto help them get started and signpostpeople to further information sources aspart of the development of the TogetherWe Can section of the DirectGov website(www.direct.gov.uk/togetherwecan).

We will also consider how to set up aclear point of entry for an individual whowants to participate, provide them withinformation and match their skills toopportunities. This would mean thatpeople who apply for a civic role, but arenot successful, have an opportunity totake on another such role. At the simplestend, this could mean providing someonewho had been unsuccessful in becominga magistrate with information about how

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to become a member of a Youth JusticePanel. At a more complex level, it couldinvolve formal exchange of CVs betweenorganisations or an IT based system.Alternatively, people whose term expiresas a governor or magistrate may beencouraged to take on a different typeof role.

Communities and Local Government willexplore the uses of new technology toenable people to understand betteropportunities for participation, and workwith other government departments toencourage this.

Action 14: Mainstream empowermentas an improvement priority

In each of the nine English regions,Regional Improvement and EfficiencyPartnerships have a key role in workingtogether with local authorities, voluntaryand community sector organisations andpartner agencies to respond to regionalimprovement priorities. Regional actionplans are designed to ensure that peopleacross the region can work with

government to improve the way servicesare delivered. Support for capacitybuilding will be further helped by thepublication in the autumn of a NationalImprovement and Efficiency Strategywhich will be implemented in March2008. Communities and LocalGovernment will reflect the importance ofcommunity empowerment as amainstream part of the improvementagenda and work with the LGA and IDeAto ensure that the regional improvementarchitecture supports councils who wantto develop their empowerment activity.

Action 15: Open up direct dialoguewith local activists

We need local community activists towork with us to tell us what is reallyhappening and influence our thinkingabout policies. Throughout the Autumnand 2008 and in different parts of thecountry, the Secretary of State will beinviting community activists and otherswith hands on experience to join her in aseries of roundtable discussions andregional events to consider how activities

designed to give citizens more influenceare actually working on the ground.This will help to shape our future plans:putting face to face engagement at theheart of our approach to policy-making.Activists will in turn be encouraged tocome forward as empowermentchampions and help raise awareness ofengagement opportunities so that theseare widely utilised by the public.

Action 16: Transfer more assets tocommunities

In many areas local authorities havealready transferred assets such as disusedbuildings or old swimming pools. Thegovernment is implementing fullyrecommendations on how to boost thetransfer of public assets, such as land,buildings or facilities, into the controlof communities – see case study 10.A consortium led by the DevelopmentTrusts Association is supportingpartnerships in 20 areas to demonstratewhat works and find the best practice tohelp others.28

28 Quirk, B. (2007) Making Assets Work: the Quirk Review of Community Management and Ownership of Public Assets, London: Communities andLocal Government.

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New guidance on local authority assetmanagement and a toolkit on how tomanage the risks in asset transfer, will bepublished in Spring 2008. Workshops forlocal authorities and communityorganisations are being held over thewinter. At the same time, we intend to domore to accelerate the process of assettransfer and will be making furtherannouncements shortly.

Case Study 10: Gamblesby Village Hall, Cumbria

The example of Gamblesby VillageHall in Cumbria illustrates howcommunity ownership of a key localbuilding can contribute significantlyto restoring the morale of a decliningneighbourhood.

Over the last few decades,Gamblesby’s population has fallen tobelow 200 and those remaining havewatched its public facilities graduallydisappear. The foot and mouthepidemic in 2001 was the final strawfor the local economy but, led by anenergetic and visionary chair, a localaction group was formed and decidedthat revitalising the village hall wouldbe an important element in and alsoa symbol of the village’s recovery. Thebuilding itself was built with anendowment to the village from afarmer in the nineteenth century. Onthe strength of this the villagemounted a successful campaign to

reclaim it from the local council andplace it in the ownership of a villagehall trust. The trust went on to securefunding from a range of sources torenovate the hall and bring it backinto use.

The result is that now Gamblesby hasan attractive focal point for theirsocial activities that is sustainable andsecure and has a plannedmaintenance programme in place toprevent future maintenance crises.The project has done much to restorepride in the community and someeconomic opportunities may also beopening up through theestablishment of the hall as a venueand the associated demand forcatering. The whole process hasenabled local people to develop skillsand increased confidence that mayopen up future avenues for collectiveactivity to benefit the village.

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Action 17: Provide timely informationabout performance

The Governance of Britain green papersaid that Government will work with localauthorities and public service providersin England to ensure that there is widespread use of ‘real-time’ data.29 Thismeans that communities will need tobe provided with regular and accessibleinformation on their local services inorder to judge the effectiveness of thoseservices and to be able to see where theirinvolvement has affected decision makingand outcomes. We have commissionedresearch into what practices are effectiveand meet the needs of citizens, on thebasis of which we will bring forwardproposals to encourage best practice ingiving people the performanceinformation they need, when they need it– see case study 11.

Case Study 11: Timely information about performance

Five out of six of the Berkshire Unitaryauthorities have opted to employ theBerkshire Fire and Rescue ServicePerformance ManagementInformation system for monitoring theLocal Area Agreements. The systemcurrently enables partners to submitdata to the fire service who put itonto the system, usually on aquarterly basis. The advantage of the

system is that it is web-based so thatpartners, including GovernmentOffices can access it to reviewprogress based on the latest data.The authorities have recently agreedto input information directly toprovide updates on a more regularbasis. The system will also have theability to map incidents in order toidentify hot spots.

29 Governance of Britain July 2007, Ministry of Justice.

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Action 18: Invest in the long termsustainability of the third sectorthrough funding to supportcommunity anchor organisations

Large neighbourhood based organisationsincreasingly known as communityanchors, play a vital role in supportingother community sector groups. They areoften social enterprises, able to generateincome through trading and contractingand through the ownership ormanagement of an asset base. They playa unique role, recognised withincommunities and by external agenciesand are able to act as an intermediarybetween these agencies and grassrootsactivity. They can deliver services beyondthe capacity of smaller groups, operate asa platform for community activity,facilitate wider community forums andnetworks and can negotiate on behalf ofthe local community sector.

Therefore, over the next three years wewill invest, with the Office of the ThirdSector, in supporting community anchors

to develop their role at a neighbourhoodlevel to help build strong and sustainablecommunities through providing spaces tomeet, supporting the community sector,providing services, providing advocacyand voice and stimulating communityinvolvement and activity.

Action 19: Support Community LandTrusts

Community Land Trusts are a mechanismfor ownership of land by the community,taking it out of the market and ensuringthe impact of land appreciation is takenout of consideration. This enables longerterm affordable development. We willmonitor the pilots led by SalfordUniversity and the Housing Corporationto learn from a proven model enablingcommunities to take an increased level ofcontrol of their future and can givecommunity organisations a sustainableincome stream for regeneration andimprovement of their area.

Action 20: Measure empowermentand make it visible

It will be possible for Local Authoritiesand their partners to prioritiseempowerment through their Local AreaAgreement and we are encouraging thiswherever appropriate, through co-operation with the Local GovernmentAssociation and through the programmesof the national, regional and localnetworks supported by the NationalEmpowerment Partnership. In all areasthese indicators will also form part of theevidence that will be reviewed by theAudit Commission in carrying out theComprehensive Area Assessments. Inaddition we will take steps to makecitizens themselves aware of the fullpotential of their participative role byincluding information on levels ofempowerment and participation in timelydata to be disseminated in localities.

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4.1 What is the issue?

We believe that participatory andrepresentative forms of democracy arecomplementary and we think it is vitalthat elected representatives are at theheart of the empowerment agenda.

At a national level, there has beenincreased disengagement from formalpolitical processes in recent years which isparticularly marked among young people.At a local level, young people often lackawareness of their local political structures,can feel that there is no relevance to themor that the council has no interest in their

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People are motivated to sign a petition,sign up to a cause or donate, but weneed to translate this willingness toparticipate in single issues intorenewed enthusiasm for local decisionsand bring new life and verve to ourlocal democracy.

21. We are working with the LocalGovernment Association to establisha ‘concordat’ to guide the relationsbetween central and local government

22. We will publish therecommendations of the CouncillorsCommission in December 2007 anddeliver an implementation plan inearly 2008.

23. In partnership with otherGovernment Departments and theLocal Government Association wewill consider how to improve localaccountability and leadership for arange of public services.

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opinion. Young people can therefore endup feeling alienated from local decisionmaking due to lack of youthrepresentation. It is vital that we addressthe decline in turnout at local and generalelections and increase interest in makinglocal decisions which matter.

We recognise the need to attract abroader range of talented people fromall backgrounds to stand and serve ascouncillors. Building on a commitmentin the local government white paper“Strong and Prosperous Communities”the Secretary of State established anindependent commission with cross partyand non party membership. TheCouncillors Commission will report to theSecretary of State with recommendationsrelating to its remit. That is to makerecommendations regarding theincentives and barriers to:

• encouraging suitably able, qualifiedand representative people to becandidates to serve as councillors ofprincipal authorities;

• their retention and developmentonce elected, or appointed under

the Local Government Act 2000;and

• their being able to secure publicinterest and recognition for thework they carry out for theircommunities.

The IDeA’s National Census of LocalAuthority Councillors 2006 confirmedthat today’s councillors are not recruitedfrom across the social spectrum. Insteadthey are drawn disproportionately fromcertain sections of society. The latestfindings from the 2006 Census of LocalAuthority Councillors revealed that twoout of three councillors in England aremale, compared to just under half of theadult population and nearly all are whitecompared to nine out of ten of the adultpopulation. The average age ofcouncillors is 58.3.30 We want to reachout to attract a wider range of peoplewith untapped talent and differentperspectives, especially young people,women and people from black andminority ethnic backgrounds. It is alsoimportant that people feel that they areadequately represented.

Action 21: Establish a concordatbetween central and localgovernment

We are working with the LocalGovernment Association to establisha ‘concordat’ to guide the relationsbetween central and local government.This would, if agreed, establish for thefirst time an agreement on the rightsand responsibilities of local government,including its responsibilities to provideeffective leadership of local areas and toempower local communities.

30 IDeA (2007) National Census of Local Authority Councillors in England 2006, London: Improvement and Development Agency.

“Everything possible should be doneto help people to enter public servicesuch as this as it has been the mostrewarding, enjoyable, invigoratingthing I have ever done. You really canwake up with a smile on your face andcount your blessings.”

(A local councillor)

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Action 22: Strengthen the role of localcouncillors

The Councillors’ Commission will publishits recommendations in December 2007.The Commissioners have taken in-depthsoundings on issues as wide ranging asthe public perception of councillors, waysto increase the diversity of candidates, theattitudes of employers and how toimprove support to elected members. Wewill respond with the government’simplementation plan in early 2008 withmeasures to strengthen the role of localcouncillors and transform the relationshipbetween communities and the town hall.

Action 23: Greater local accountabilityand clearer local leadership

There is already experience of electinglocal people directly into significant publicservice roles – for example on to theboards of Foundation Hospital Trusts.Changes are being made inneighbourhood policing following theFlanagan Review31. In partnership withother government departments and theLGA we will consider how to improvelocal accountability and leadership for a

31 Flanagan, R. (2007) The Review of Policing: Interim Report. London: Home Office.

Case Study 12: New Deal for Community Partnership Boards

NDCs have implemented a range ofprojects which have actively engagedand supported local people to enableprogression into public governance.An example of this has been theinnovative use of formal Boardelections which 34 of 39 NDCPartnerships have used to selectcommunity Board representatives,often achieving turnouts higher thanthose achieved by local councilelections.

Candidates stood because they‘wanted to give something back’ orwere ‘concerned with local quality oflife issues’.

Some partnership elections greatlyexceeded predictions because offactors such as high levels of localmedia coverage and relatively wellknown people standing.

NDC partnerships have alsoimplemented imaginative programmesof support for people involved in thegovernance of their partnership, withsupport including: staff teamsensuring resident members and newagency representatives are fullybriefed through pre-meetings,induction sessions for new members,mentoring schemes whereby existingmembers provide information andguidance to new representatives, andvisits to other NDCs to shareexperiences.

These initiatives have lead to anumber of local residents fromdisadvantaged communities,progressing into further areas ofpublic life including participating onother agency boards, and standing aslocal councillors.

Source: NDC Network (2006) Strong and Prosperous Communities: New Deal for Communities Shaping Places and People,

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range of public services, including thepolice and the NHS; and the impact ofthis on the role of councillors, andcouncillors’ democratic mandate.

At the moment local authority overviewand scrutiny committees can requireinformation only in relation to servicesprovided by the authority itself, with theexception of health matters (which arethe subject of health legislation). This willchange with the passage of the LocalGovernment and Public Involvement inHealth Bill and commencement of thecrime and disorder scrutiny provisions inthe Police and Justice Act 2006, whichwill extend this power for councilsresponsible for Local Area Agreements torequire information from all the publicservice providers who are ‘named’ LAApartners (such as police authorities or theEnvironment Agency).

Regulations on the scrutiny of health andcrime and disorder matters may providethat scrutiny committees can require theattendance of health and crime anddisorder partners before a scrutinycommittee. However, the Bill providesthat other named LAA partners maychoose how to provide this information

i.e. whether by attending a hearing, orin writing.

We will be working closely withcolleagues in other GovernmentDepartments to consider how theextension of this power will work inpractice and how best we can worktogether.

EndorsementsThis action plan brings together manystrands of work, many of which areongoing. The kind of change requiredto bring about real devolution to localpeople cannot be made by Communitiesand Local Government alone. It will takea partnership of many public bodies, localgovernment, communities organisationsand networks working together.

We look forward to working you all in themonths and years to come.

“Healthy, thriving local communities areones where local people feel able to getinvolved and influence local decisionmaking. Voluntary and CommunityOrganisations have a crucial role to playin supporting the participation ofindividuals and communities. This actionplan demonstrates the commitment ofgovernment to strengthen communityengagement, providing an opportunityto put measures in place that will enableand support local communities and localpeople.”

Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive,National council for VoluntaryOrganisations

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“A vibrant local democracy requires apartnership between local authorities ,citizens and communities and the broaderthird sector. We share Hazel Blears’ visionof “flourishing, confident communities”and will work with her and localgovernment to achieve them.”

Stephen Bubb, Chief Executive, ACEVO

“This is a welcome commitment tosupporting real shifts of power withincommunities across the country – and tomoving the field of communityempowerment from words to action.”

Geoff Mulgan, Director, YoungFoundation

“The evidence is clear and compellingthat citizen empowerment leads toimproved services and better outcomesfor people. Every successful organisation,regardless of sector, strives to understandits customers, but for public services thechallenge is to go beyond this and directlyinvolve the people who use services inshaping them. The new ComprehensiveArea Assessment will include anevaluation of how well councils and theirpartners are engaging with local people

to better understand their needs. TheAudit Commission will also be looking forevidence that services have beengenuinely shaped by the input of thosewho rely on them.”

Michael O’Higgins, Chairman, AuditCommission

“Local government is indispensable to theeffective empowerment of localcommunities. The action plan sends out avery positive signal on the role localauthorities will be playing in taking thisagenda forward in the coming months.”

Barry Quirk, Chairman, SOLACE

“The Community Sector Coalitionwelcomes Communities and LocalGovernment’s commitment tostrengthening community empowerment.We look forward to working closely withthe department in achieving the culturechange that will deliver lastingimprovements in public sectorperformance”

Ben Hughes, Community Sector Coalition

“The Community DevelopmentFoundation welcomes Community andLocal Government’s re-emphasis oncommunity empowerment, which is afundamental outcome of applyingcommunity development principles andapproaches when working with citizensand communities. CDF looks forwardingto working through the NationalEmpowerment Partnership to raiseawareness of good local empowermentpractice and to help improve the qualityand consistency of activities that increasethe capacity of people to influence thedecisions that affect their lives.”

Alison Seabrook, Chief Executive,Community Development Foundation

“Local authorities need to work closelywith citizens and communityorganisations as part of their leadershiprole. IDeA is pleased to be associated withthis Action Plan and to build on existingexperiences of the local governmentsector, supporting local councils to drivetheir own improvement.”

Lucy de Groot, Executive Director, IDeA

Contact us

We would welcome your views on theactions set out in this plan. We have setup an online forum at:

http://haveyoursay.communities.gov.uk/forums

The feedback we receive will shape ourongoing cross-government programme.

Please contact us by 19 January 2008with your comments and responses to thequestions below:

Widening and deepeningempowerment opportunities locally(Action Points 1-10)

• Which actions do you think are mostimportant to empower people inyour community and why?

• What other activities do you thinkwould encourage local people toparticipate more and have moreinfluence in your community?

Supporting and enabling people totake up empowerment opportunities(Action Points: 11-20)

• What other support would you likea) national, b) local government andc) the community and voluntarysector to provide to help you takeup local empowermentopportunities?

Strengthening local representativedemocracy (Action Points: 21-23)

• How would you encourage peopleto be less disengaged in localdemocracy?

• Can you suggest any other ways toincrease people's opportunity to beengaged with their local area?

Alternatively you can contact us aboutthe action plan at:

Community Empowerment Action PlanCommunity Empowerment DivisionCommunities and Local GovernmentEland HouseBressenden PlaceLondon SW1E 5DU

or e-mail us atCommunityEmpowerment@communities.gsi.gov.uk

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